Monday, September 03, 2018

Batman 66 - Episodes 65-68 Reviews

When you're lacking a certain fiend, bring in someone similarly themed. Oh and how about a sleeping inducing duo too?

2x31: The Puzzles Are Coming


There were difficulties in getting Frank Gorshin back for the show's second season, which definitely felt obvious considering the distance we had with Riddler stories in this middle segment of the show's tenure. Instead, for this two parter, we got the Puzzler as played by Maurice Evans, who is a decent enough replacement but it doesn't stop me from wondering how much different this story would've been had they actually bagged the Riddler for this one. This two parter sees Puzzler entering a partnership with snotty multimillionaire Artemus Knab while using his Puzzler gas to steal some jewels from partygoers at a rocket launch while also using a hot air balloon to take out the Dynamic Duo. 6/10

2x32: The Duo Is Slumming


This one had a cameo appearance from Santa Claus of all people. That in itself made me chuckle but for a second part, this was a little disappointing. We saw Knab getting predictably betrayed by Puzzler and his fame hungry female assistance while Puzzler also continued to wax lyrical in a Shakespeare tone. Two parter wise, this is one of the weaker ones of the second season to be honest, even if Puzzler isn't strictly a bad villain, just not as engaging as the Riddler would've been. 6/10

2x33: The Sandman Cometh


Catwoman back after a short distance isn't something I'd complain about and here, she's got herself an alliance. Enter the Sandman as played by Michael Rennie and together, they're an interesting pairing given that the both intend to double cross each other. We see Sandman working his charm on a wealthy businesswoman named J. Pauline Spaghetti while Catwoman puts an undercover policewoman of Commissioner Gordon's into a maze. The cliffhanger is good with Robin being forced by Sandman into making Batman into a quilt. 8/10

2x34: The Catwoman Goeth


With Batman managing to get out of being a quilt, Robin managed to get stuck in the same maze as Officer Mooney, though it's later resolved offscreen. On screen, Catwoman takes little persuading in turning on Sandman for Batman while Sandman himself nearly gets away with marrying into Spaghetti's business until Batman and Robin ruin things for him. Personally I would've backed away considering that she had four previous spouses who all got killed in her factory. It's not Catwoman's greatest story in the series but this was a lot of fun. 8/10

Next blog I'll delve into The Contaminated Cowl/The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul and The Zodiac Crimes/The Joker's Hard Times

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